Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano has settled down, after weeks of travel chaos.

Airport news for Airport Hotels,Travel on 24/05/2010.

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Travellers, airlines and authorities across Europe will be hoping they can finally breathe sighs of relief as their volcanic nemesis appears to have stopped grumbling. Scientists say recent measurements taken at Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano appear to show that the eruption has subsided for now.

The temperature in the crater has dropped below 100˚C, which means the volcano is now producing steam instead of hot magma. Icelandic geophysicist Steinunn Jakobsdottir told the BBC that Eyjafjallajokull had pretty much settled down and was now kind of “dormant”. He also cautioned, however, that this conforms to Eyjafjallajokull’s history of cycles, in which it goes quiet for a while, before becoming energetic again.

Another scientist, Magnus Gudmundsson of Iceland University, warned France’s AFP that nothing was certain. He said the volcano’s previous eruption in the 19th century had lasted 13 months, and had included several periods of quiet, followed by renewed activity. He also said nobody could predict whether Eyjafjallajokull’s much bigger neighbour, Katla, might also erupt.

Heavy plumes of ash from Eyjafjallajokull have wrought havoc on global aviation for weeks. At the peak of the travel chaos, airspace across Europe was almost totally shut down, with the UK and northern Europe the worst-hit. Globally, more than ten million air passengers had their flights cancelled or delayed.

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